Farm info

Doña Gleidis Reatiga is the owner of the Gozen farm in Cerro Azul, Cienaga municipality, Magdalena department. She bought the farm eight years ago and has been producing coffee for the last five years. Her husband, Edelso Martinez and the one in the photo, is in charge of the land and the handpicking.

Doña Gleidis is 33 years old and is learning from her husband about best practices for managing the harvest and cherry picking. For now, she provides the food for the family and the three employees who help with the harvest.

The Gozen farm sits at an elevation of 1730 meters above sea level and has an area of about 1.5 hectares. The property currently has 8,000 coffee trees of the Castillo variety. The conditions of the farm allow for natural disease controls and Doña Gleidis and Edelso do not apply fungicides to the trees.

Coffee from Finca Gozen is Natural Processed, which begins with a pre-fermentation stage of 24 hours at the receiving station. From here, the cherries are moved to the drying stage. Coffee is placed on African-style raised beds for over 25 days and racked and rotated every 4 hours. Due to the levels of sugar and moisture, the first days are crucial to avoid microbial activity prolongation. Finally, parchment coffee passes through dry milling and hand sorting stages prior to shipment.

DelAgua Coffee

Water conservation is the main purpose of the DelAgua Coffee project. DelAgua produces coffees through a community–based model using the minimum amount of water in processing and encourages everyone living and working in the region to become guardians of biodiversity.

DelAgua produces green coffee in La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a breathtaking region of Colombia with high mountains close to the ocean. The microclimate is as diverse as it is sacred to the farmers who live in the region. Several springs nourish the most unbelievable fauna and flora; freshwater is a resource and most treasured asset that coffee producers are committed to protect.

Region

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

The mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are only half an hour from the Caribbean coast. The Sierra Nevada mountain range runs through the Cesar, Guajira, and Magadelena departments. The region is home to many indigenous communities and settlers from Tolima, Norte de Santander, and Santander. 

Coffee in the Sierra Nevada grows between 900 and 1600 meters above sea level along steep mountain slopes. Coffee is cultivated under the shade of pacay, carbonero, walnut, avocado, and citrus trees. Environmental conservation and coffee production have coexisted the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta for many years.

The coffee region has more than 50,000 hectares planted with Typica, Caturra, Colombia, and Castillo varieties. There are more than 13,000 coffee growing families in the region, and all follow ecological practices in producing coffee. The Sierra Nevada mountains are like a natural sponge; the rivers springing from these mountains supply freshwater for more than five departments along Colombia’s Atlantic coast. Producers also incorporate soil conservation and biodiversity protection into their land management.